Method of welding high-carbon steel



Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

M THOD oF-ivE Drne HIGH-CARBON; STEEL. a

No Drawing.

The invention relates a method r-m d: ing; high carbon steel bodies, such foreil m-fl v r V reils. indicated, no difiiculty is encoun- Itered inseciiringpractically perfect butt V Welds between steelbodiesof-low carbon conpl e" .asrailyvay rails, to efiect substantial homogeneity otjstructureand practical u, p

formity of i- Wear resisting qua-lit; es; a the joints, to which ends the method com] inter-posing. a I

i iron between the; bodies to be :Weldediand elding together the [adjacent surfaces ot allot said bodies the welding, pretera-bly, being effected by means I of alumino thernnc 1, steel teemed into and about the goin't, as Will.

be pointed out, more particularlyhereinafter;

In the Welding'ot steel bodies, such'a's rail-' ivayrails, by the thermit metho d, t.vo proce dures have been followed heretofore, onel' volving the application of superl'ieated then mit steel about andvbetweenthe ends ot'the rails or elem ents'tobe joined, therebycaus,

ing the parts in" contact 7 with the molten thermit steel to fuse,and ultimately t QcO- lesce V and solidify. with the molten steel 'to form hat-.may be, termed a fusion o1nt, the

, other methodinvolving the butt Weldingof the. elements which-comprises the heating of the bodies tobe Welded together at or about the joint and. forcing the highly heated Yele ments together, the, heating inthi's case also.

being preferably effected by 1superheated thermit steel poured about the joint. For the Welding of parts made of low carbonisteel;

I V such as pipes, rods, bars-andthe like, both types of Welds have proven entirely'satisi'actory and practically homogeneous 'golnts have been produced, \vhich,in some instances,

as have exhibited strength even greater than the 'Welded elements themselves, which is caused by the excess metal at the ointr It has. been; proposed heretofore to effect a combination butt and fusion weld between i as exemplified in Patent No; 1,l5 3,e35, dated September-1 l,;l915, byinserting shim or section of metal. or the samecharacter asthe rails between the ends or the rail heads and then Welding said intermediate piece of metal metal. The object ofthis particular formiofcombination butt and fusion Weldbetvve'en railends was to provide a Wear res st ng ele; I p

' covering'of'the ad acent portions of therail ment between the rail ends represented by es body of low carbon steel; or

rails.

high carbon steel bodies, such as railway rails,-

are not :in engagement With the "inserted or steel, low in carbon, or even withoutcarthe butt Weld insert, so that the wearing ac A iplication'ifiled August 29, 1925. seria -no; 53,428.- i

no ilessat the jointsithan on the bodies of the ofthe car wheelswouldlbe no: greater and tent, Z'but in rail elding practice in which; Y

the steels contain i'ro'm zfiO to 185%.1carboh, it has frequently been found difiicult and-inn practicable to produce tin-effective butt weld between the heads of the-rails and the insert of steel thejsame icarboncontent the I 1 has beeni hovv evendafter series of tests, that, by employing antinser-t of low carbon steel between the faces of the high carbon steel to,be yvelded practically perfect b'utt'welds or combination butt Welds and flusion velds will result, and in the case of railivayrails, if due attention ,be given to i the character and disposition of the. insert, the joint willnot only'be un form as to struc ture, butwillofi'er the same reslstance towear unfdferithe a m rer them ivheels, as "the I It 1s proposed, therefore, 7

body'of the rails. to use inserts of low carbon steel'oriron that are relatively thin and, in; the fcas'e of butt W di heh sotr lwey 1a or interposed body or low carbon steel or iron is disposed in the same relative position with respect tothe portions "of the rails subject 'to Wear, as exemplified in Patent No.

; 1,153,{l3 5 .aforesaid, and the joint: completed by the applicationof. highly heated "molten metal, such as thermit steel, about thejoint,

in'the same manner as described in said patent J Under: the action 0f thelheat developed the thermit steel, the union ofthe low carbon steel of theins'ertwith the'high'carbon steel of the rail" ends "is so effective that, when the il's', the insert joint is examined under the microscope, it is found that'the pearlite of the, high carbon 7 steel'has migrated to an appreciable and material distance into the ferrite of the low carbon steel,'an'd,' vice versa, 'the ferrite has structure and wear'resisting qualities. 1

As' indicated, the interposedgbody of iron bon, is preferably I quite thin and may even constitutehat is in veffect a meresurface ends to be buttwveldedd The desired result no I may be obtained in various ways, such for example as inserting a thin sheet of low CELI". bon steel between the rail heads, or the insert may bein the form of two thin plates of low carbon steel with an interposed sheet of high carbon steel. As alternatives, the portions of the rail head ends to be butt welded, or an insert of high carbon steel, may-have a coating of low carbon steel applied thereto. -T his coating need not, of course, be actually joined to rthe high carbon steel before the butt Weld is accomplished, but it will obviously be more convenient as a matter of practical manipulation if' an actual physical jointure of the high and low carbon steels be effected, particularly in the case-of inserts, as by electrolytically v as described and may be used interchangeably. I Therefore, the termlow carbon steel or iron will be understood as'indicating a ferrous body; either practically without carbon content or with a percentage of carbon sufficiently low to insure an effective, homogeneous and uniform fusion and welding of all of theparts of the butt joint.

What I claim isi y p 1. The' method of welding high 'carbon steel bodies which comprises interposinga f of heat and pressure.

. J heated molten metal. depositing low carbon steel or iron on the butt body of low carbon iron between the'elements, i

and-butt welding together the adjacent sur faces of said bodies by theapplication of heat andpressure. .7 7

2. The method of we-ldingahigh carbon steel bodies which comprises interposinga cent surfaces of said bodies by the application 3. The method of welding high carbon steel bodies which comprises interposing' a thin body of lowcarbon iron between "the elements and butt welding the adjacent sur faces of said bodies by contact with highly 4. The method of welding high carbon steel bodies which comprises interposinga thin body of low carbon iron between the elements 1 andbutt welding the adjacent surfacesof said bodies contactwith'inolten alumino then mic metal. a

*5 The method of welding high carbon steel bodies which comprises interposing a thin body of low carbon iron between the elements and butt welding the adjacent surfaces of said bodies by pressure and by contact with highly heated molten metal. j y 6.. The 'method of 'we'lcl'ng high car bon steel bodies which comprises interposing a thin body of lowcarbo-n iron between the 'elements and butt welding the adjacent surfaces of said bodies by pressure and by contact with molten alumino-therm-io metal.

In testimony whereof I aflix mysignat-ure.

John H. DnPrELEn. 

